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[title]"I'll understand if I'm not your kind of woman," sings Rachel Bay Jones as Catherine in Pippin. "Anyone can make one terrible mistake." Let us therefore, however grudgingly, give the same latitude to the Tony Awards this year for the single most egregious oversight in the 2012–13 nominations: Jones herself, in the race for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
Otherwise, the nominations are a respectable lot, and generally consistent with what our own choices would have been. We lament the absence of love for Cyrano de Bergerac (and its star, Douglas Hodge) and Annie (and its set, by the perpetually snubbed David Korins), but such is the yearly lot of productions that open in the fall. Best Revival nominee Orphans, notably inferior to several revivals that opened earlier in the year, is the season's most visible beneficiary of this phenomenon.
Annie may also have suffered from child-star fatigue; the Tony rules committee declared the four rotating stars of Matilda ineligible for a competitive award (though they will receive a "Tony Honor"), and neither Annie's Lilla Crawford nor Motown—The Musical's Raymond Luke Jr. and Jibreel Mawry snagged a nomination. And big-name adult stars fared little better with the nominators. Athough Tom Hanks earned a nod for Lucky Guy, such major draws as Bette Midler, Al Pacino, Jessica Chastain, Scarlett Johansson, Sigourney Weaver and Alec Baldwin were (correctly) left out.
The big winners of the list: Kinky Boots, which leads the pack with 13 nominations—one more than Matilda, its only real competition for the coveted Best Musical prize; and Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, whose six nods in major categories give it an edge over Nora Ephron's Lucky Guy (which has to settle for five). The ten nominations for director Diane Paulus's revival of Pippin make it a major force as well, as do the nine for Cinderella. Among play revivals, Golden Boy's eight nominations—which do not include, alas, one for the worthy Yvonne Strahovski—mark it as the favorite over Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Both productions have already closed.)
Another winner is Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike's Kristine Nielsen, whose risky jump up in categories, from Best Featured to Best Leading Actress in a Play, worked out handsomely—though we are sad to see her take a slot that could have gone to The Assembled Parties' wonderful Jessica Hecht. Carolee Carmello (Scandalous) and Rob McClure (Chaplin) give hope to actors whose shows have died early. And Kenneth Posner puts an exclamation point on a terrific year by nabbing three out of four slots in the race for Best Lighting in a Musical.
We'll be following the Tony race closely in the weeks to come. Be sure to bookmark our Tony Awards 2013 page for more coverage and predictions. Meanwhile, here are the complete nominations for the 2013 Tony Awards.
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Best Play
The Assembled Parties
Lucky Guy
The Testament of Mary
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Best Musical
Bring It On: The Musical
A Christmas Story The Musical
Kinky Boots
Matilda
Best Revival of a Play
Golden Boy
Orphans
The Trip to Bountiful
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Best Revival of a Musical
Annie
Cinderella
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Pippin
Best Book of a Musical
A Christmas Story The Musical, Joseph Robinette
Cinderella, Douglas Carter Beane
Kinky Boots, Harvey Fierstein
Matilda, Dennis Kelly
Best Score
A Christmas Story The Musical, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Hands on a Hardbody, Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green
Kinky Boots, Cyndi Lauper
Matilda, Tim Minchin
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Tom Hanks, Lucky Guy
Nathan Lane, The Nance
Tracy Letts, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
David Hyde Pierce, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tom Sturridge, Orphans
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place
Amy Morton, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Kristine Nielsen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Holland Taylor, Ann
Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Bertie Carvel, Matilda
Santino Fontana, Cinderella
Rob McClure, Chaplin
Billy Porter, Kinky Boots
Stark Sands, Kinky Boots
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Stephanie J. Block, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Carolee Carmello, Scandalous
Valisia LeKae, Motown—The Musical
Patina Miller, Pippin
Laura Osnes, Cinderella
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Danny Burstein, Golden Boy
Richard Kind, The Big Knife
Billy Magnussen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tony Shalhoub, Golden Boy
Courtney B. Vance, Lucky Guy
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Carrie Coon, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Shalita Grant, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Judith Ivey, The Heiress
Judith Light, The Assembled Parties
Condola Rashad, The Trip to Bountiful
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Charl Brown, Motown—The Musical
Keith Carradine, Hands on Hardbody
Will Chase, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Gabriel Ebert, Matilda
Terrence Mann, Pippin
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Annaleigh Ashford, Kinky Boots
Victoria Clark, Cinderella
Andrea Martin, Pippin
Keala Settle, Hands on a Hardbody
Lauren Ward, Matilda
Best Direction of a Play
Pam MacKinnon, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Nicholas Martin, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Bartlett Sher, Golden Boy
George C. Wolfe, Lucky Guy
Best Direction of a Musical
Scott Ellis, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Jerry Mitchell, Kinky Boots
Diane Paulus, Pippin
Matthew Warchus, Matilda
Best Choreography
Andy Blankenbuehler, Bring It On: The Musical
Peter Darling, Matilda
Jerry Mitchell, Kinky Boots
Chet Walker, Pippin
Best Scenic Design of a Play
John Lee Beatty, The Nance
Santo Loquasto, The Assembled Parties
David Rockwell, Lucky Guy
Michael Yeargan, Golden Boy
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Rob Howell, Matilda
Anna Louizos, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Scott Pask, Pippin
David Rockwell, Kinky Boots
Best Costume Design of a Play
Soutra Gilmour, Cyrano de Bergerac
Ann Roth, The Nance
Albert Wolsky, The Heiress
Catherine Zuber, Golden Boy
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Kinky Boots
Rob Howell, Matilda
Dominique Lemieux, Pippin
William Ivey Long, Cinderella
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, Lucky Guy
Donald Holder, Golden Boy
Jennifer Tipton, The Testament of Mary
Japhy Wiedeman, The Nance
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kenneth Posner, Cinderella
Kenneth Posner, Kinky Boots
Kenneth Posner, Pippin
Hugh Vanstone, Matilda
Best Sound Design of a Play
Josh Gromada, The Trip to Bountiful
Mel Mercier, The Testament of Mary
Leon Rothenberg, The Nance
Peter John Still and Marc Salzberg, Golden Boy
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Jonathan Deans and Garth Helm, Pippin
Peter Hylenski, Motown—The Musical
John Shivers, Kinky Boots
Nevin Steinberg, Cinderella
Best Orchestrations
Chris Nightingale, Matilda
Stephen Oremus, Kinky Boots
Ethan Popp and Bryan Crook, Motown—The Musical
Danny Troob, Cinderella